THE CHANGING FACE OF OKC COMEDY
State Question 820 started as a petition by Oklahomans, who believe it’s time to change the outdated marijuana laws in our state. Now, on March 7, Oklahoma voters have the chance to vote on SQ 820.
SQ 820 will safely legalize, regulate and tax recreational marijuana for adults 21+ in Oklahoma. It will responsibly and comprehensively regulate the industry to protect public health and safety. It will also allow people to remove previous low-level marijuana offenses from their record.
SQ 820 will generate millions of dollars every year from taxes on recreational marijuana- money that can be used to increase funding for our schools, improve our roads, protect public safety, and provide drug treatment and other health care services.
Thousands of people are arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana in Oklahoma every year. Using our public safety dollars for marijuana arrests doesn’t make us any safer. SQ 820 will free up police to focus on violent crimes that do real harm.
ONE
03/11 - BE OUR GUEST: DISNEY DJ NIGHT
03/17 - PINK FLOYD LASER SPECTACULAR
03/18 - AMERICAN PETTY & DREAMS UNWIND
03/19 - K. MICHELLE
03/24 - FORGOTTEN SPACE: GRATEFUL DEAD TRIBUTE
03/25 - THE TAYLOR PARTY: TAYLOR SWIFT NIGHT
03/26 - BADFLOWER
03/28 - KEVIN KAARL
03/31 - GOTH PROM: WEDNESDAY ADDAMS DANCE NIGHT
Impeccably dressed, knowledgeable, patient—the docent guiding the group of curious school children through a museum gallery for their field trip is a well-known sight and experience.
Docents provide crucial services guiding tours, explaining exhibits and helping protect and preserve the museum’s legacies.
“A purist in the volunteer world would say that a docent is somebody that has gone through very rigorous training, very detailed training, of whatever environment they’re working in,” Oklahoma History Center Director of Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator Steve Hawkins said.
They use this training to provide tours and information for visitors.
“The way that docents function here at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art—and they may be different other places—what they do here is they lead tours, guided tours of our exhibitions, whether that is for school aged children, or adult groups who have come to visit us. They also help us with our art activities,” Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMoA) Manager of Digital and Gallery Learning Tori Waldron said.
With their wide range of knowledge and professional demeanors, it can come as a surprise that these are typically volunteer roles, and that the term docent is sometimes used to refer to a wide range of museum volunteer roles, beyond the typical “purist” description.
“Volunteering, in general, is something that a lot of large institutions like the History Center, any museum, they really can’t survive without,” Hawkins said.
Waldron agreed.
“They are part of our frontline,” she said, “when they’re interacting with members of the public, with school tours. I would encourage people to think about when they visit museums, who do you see first, very often, it is a volunteer greeter.”
OKCMoA’s volunteer program currently has approximately 30 participants.
The Oklahoma History Center has approximately 75 museum volunteers, not including the approxi-
mately 30-35 volunteers in the research segment of the History Center.
“In the state of Oklahoma a volunteer is worth $25 an hour, $15 an hour for work and $10 for insurance, just like they’re an employee,” Hawkins said.
These numbers are calculated and then presented to the state legislature each month, and the museum volunteers’ contributions to the Oklahoma History Center are in the thousands of dollars.
“They contribute around anywhere between $5,000-$7,000 a month to our effort,” he said. “And, you know, you add it all up, and that’s typically a full time employee for the year.”
The overall impact of volunteers on a museum is enormous.
“They do it in little segments of two hours and five hours, you know, all year long,” Hawkins said. “So they’re very valuable to us, not just for the money, but for the friendships and the camaraderie.”
One of the misconceptions Waldron said she sees regarding docents is that someone has to already know a lot about art before volunteering to be a docent.
“I would encourage anyone who is interested in art and wants to give back to their community to apply,” Waldron said. “People of diverse backgrounds, with very different kinds of jobs and life experiences often lead very interesting and very different conversations.”
Museum docent programs at museums provide training to their volunteers.
“We focus on the content, right, what literally is in the exhibition, what do we know about the artworks, and then we also provide our docents with training about some of those soft skills like group management,” Waldron said.
Docents receive training both at the start of their volunteering and continuing training along the way.
“Being able to have a set group of people that I meet with regularly to talk about art, or talk about how we want to talk about art, that by far is for me the most enjoyable part,” Waldron said.
At the newly renovated Oklahoma Capitol Building, the first group of volunteer docents has recently completed training through the Oklahoma Arts Council to provide tours of the numerous artworks throughout the Capitol.
“I’ve always felt pretty good about the political side of it and the history side, but I’ve really enjoyed in the training that we got into the art, learning about the arts,” Oklahoma Capitol Building Volunteer Docent Rick Hill said.
Before the renovations, tours at the Capitol were handled through the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department.
“When the Capitol restoration began, and we removed the majority of the artwork to protect it, we had several years where it was out,” Oklahoma Arts Council Director of Marketing and Communications Joel Gavin said.
The renovation provided an opportunity to rethink the tours.
“All of our art tells the story of Oklahoma and the history of Oklahoma,” Oklahoma Arts Council Curator of Education and Engagement Amanda Harmer said. “So we were able to design a curatorial plan that moves chronologically and thematically, so hopefully for visitors that storytelling is apparent and makes sense. It makes for a great tour for us.”
For Oklahoma History Center Volunteer Docent Diana Collinsworth, her journey to volunteering began before the new History Center opened in 2005.
“There was a little ad saying the Oklahoma History Center is under construction and we need volunteers when it opens,” Collinsworth said. “So not having any idea because it was under construction, not having any idea what I was volunteering for, I went to the basement of the old historical museum where the training was being held, and I signed up, took the three day training.”
She’s now been at the History
Center for more than 15 years.
“One of the things I love most is the ability to enhance their visit, by encountering someone in a gallery and being able to give them a little background on an artifact that isn’t on the plaque that they’ve just read,” Collinsworth said.
Each time an exhibit opens or changes, docents are provided with additional information and training, she said.
“The thing I love most is when they spot something in a gallery and say, ‘My grandmother had one of those; and they tell you their stories, because I love hearing their stories,” she said.
Fellow Oklahoma History Center Docent Harry Kocurek said the continuing education is one of the best parts of serving as a docent.
“I always learn something,” Kocurek said. “When it’s a special event or something, I try to do some background, or ask the curators for some additional information.”
While docents primarily provide tours and information, museum volunteers also help with education activities, such as living history events, and other programs.
“We are very conscious of the fact that we represent the museum, wherever we are,” Collinsworth said.
Ultimately, it’s about volunteers sharing their love for their museum’s collections with attendees.
“Our guests may have two hours, tops, to be in the building,” Kocurek said. “And it’s a big building. If we can make it through in two hours, that’s a good day. We’ve done our job. But it’s—you never have enough time. I want them to leave thinking, ‘I want to come back’.”
More information about volunteering as a docent can be found at arts.ok.gov, okhistory.org, and okcmoa.com. All three organizations are currently accepting volunteer applications.
Oklahoma’s new state schools superintendent is about to take a desperate situation and make it awful.
His plans for stamping out “wokeness,” critical race theory, and boys using the girl’s bathrooms sounds nothing like a plan to advance education, and more like a platform to become Ron DeSantis Jr. The irony of this culture war approach to education is transparently hypocritical. Walters claims to be all “for academics and against indoctrination,” while making it clear that he alone will decide who gets hired, who gets raises and what gets taught in our schools. That is the very definition of indoctrination.
Beware the zealot who is going to save you from something that may or may not exist and intends to burn down your house to do it. Beware the fearmonger who incites the masses to muzzle free and open discourse about dangerous ideas so that he can make duplicate zealots for even worse ideas. Beware the evangelist who rails against other people’s sins while lining his pocket from two jobs at taxpayers’ expense while vowing to cut wasteful government spending. Ryan Walters makes more than the governor.
Oklahoma is in a death-spiral when it comes to public education but the problem is not “woke” Santas and drag queens. It is an unlivable wage for one of society’s most important jobs with working conditions so abysmal, even dangerous, that teachers are burned out and leaving the profession in droves. Many are moving to Texas where they can earn far more, proving that we have lost the only Red River showdown that truly matters.
Walters’ answer is to impose a hiring and spending freeze, a decision “he alone” can make to fix it (just as Donald Trump put it), and then “he alone” will review every personnel and budget move so that “we” will hire folks who are in lockstep with his goals for our kids. Walters was a teacher, but he needs to review Venn diagrams, where
“he” and “we” do not overlap.
In his attack on critical race theory, he has the audacity to quote Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of living in a time when his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character (Walter’s campaign version of the quote is backwards, but hey, even teachers make mistakes).
“Unfortunately,” he continues, “a philosophy that teaches the opposite of this principle is ‘infecting’ our classrooms, and we need to put a stop to it.” CRT, he said, “is a dangerous and racist philosophy, and all it does is divide and characterize entire groups of people solely based on the color of their skin.”
If Walters said this in a classroom, one would hope that some very bright student might raise her hand to point out that characterizing entire groups of people based solely on the color of their skin was the norm before CRT. It is what King was fighting against and gave his life for. What sort of dream world is Walters living in? Or is that letting the whole Fox News crowd off too easily? They know exactly what they are doing.
They pretend that there is no separation of church and state because we were founded as a “Christian nation.” So, taxpayers of any religious persuasion, or no religious persuasion, can be forced to support white, wealthy, private Christian schools, while Black and brown children can be warehoused in what’s left of the public schools. Then we can lie to them by pretending that America’s original sin is not systemic racism, but elite universities. We can’t assign books like Killers of the Flower Moon about the atrocities committed by white settlers against the Osage so they could steal their oil. That might make somebody “feel bad.”
Good teachers are what every kid deserves, says Walters, so let’s do merit pay based on student performance. This will guarantee that if you teach in a poor, underperforming school you will never get a raise,
but if you teach in Deer Creek, you will end up making a six-figure salary. That will teach even the most idealistic among us to ignore the words of Jesus about helping “the last and the least of these.”
Walters is 100 percent pro-life of course, protecting who he calls “our most vulnerable.” But after they leave the womb, heaven help them if they are not straight white Christians. Their last, best hope to climb out of poverty would be a great public school education or a great teacher and mentor. Meanwhile, there is a mass-exodus of our best teachers, and it is about to accelerate.
As for diversity, equity, and inclusion, we will end up graduating students who don’t even know what those words mean or why they matter. As for the Second Amendment, Walters quotes the corrupt and disgraced NRA, saying that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. This after more than one mass shooting a day since Jan. 1. Truth be known, what stops a good student with a good mind is a bad teacher with an emergency certification.
I did notice that Walters graduated from Harding University,
where my father once taught. In the late 1950s, Harding was a totally segregated Christian school, which is an oxymoron. When my dad circulated a petition to integrate Harding, the president in those days said in chapel that admitting black students would lead to more crime and disease. Then he fired my father, who had won multiple awards for excellence in teaching. So things haven’t changed all that much.
But they are about to get much, much worse in Oklahoma. The Trump-inspired Tucker Carlson of Education is in charge now, and he is the real indoctrinator-in-chief.
The Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers is pastor of First Congregational Church UCC in Norman and retired senior minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC in Oklahoma City. He is currently Professor of Public Speaking, and Distinguished Professor of Social Justice Emeritus in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University, and the author of eight books on religion and American culture, the most recent of which is, Saving God from Religion: A Minister’s Search for Faith in a Skeptical Age. Visit robinmeyers.com
At Yes Trees, we grow great cannabis. We are proud of it. Our products, which are sold on the medical market in Oklahoma, help people. We love the opportunity Oklahoma provided us to pursue our passion when it chose to legalize medicinal cannabis. Now it is time to take the next step and pass State Question 820 on March 7.
SQ820 proposes to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults 21 years of age and older, which will have a positive impact on public health and safety. By creating and funding a system to comprehensively regulate the expanded cannabis industry in Oklahoma, SQ820 will reign in the state’s illicit cannabis market (which hurts legitimate businesses like ours) through regulation, enforcement and eliminating government waste.
SQ820 upholds the current requirement of testing of all cannabis products to ensure that they meet certain standards of quality and safety. This can include testing for the presence of pesticides, mold, and other contaminants, as well as checking for accurate labeling of THC and cannabinoid content. This type of regulation is essential to protect consumers from potentially harmful products. When cannabis is sold on the illicit market, individuals have no way of knowing what they are buying or whether it is contaminated with other dangerous substances.
SQ820 will also expand the implementation of a cannabis trackand-trace system. These systems allow for the tracking of cannabis products from seed to sale, which helps to ensure compliance with laws and regulations and can also aid in the detection and prevention of illegal activity. Additionally, they
can also assist in identifying and recalling any products that may pose a risk to consumers.
In addition to protecting consumers, Q820 establishes strict age requirements, requires all businesses to check IDs and prohibits any recreational sales to persons under 21. The illicit drug market, on the other hand, has no age requirement and is often associated with violence and other criminal activity. SQ820 will establish a legal, highly-regulated market for cannabis to support legitimate businesses and help reduce the risks associated with the illegal drug trade.
Finally, SQ820 will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for Oklahoma. A fiscal analysis of SQ820 projects that it is likely to raise more than $100 million annually. These new revenues will be used to fund regulation and enforcement, in addition to many other important state priorities, including schools, local governments, and drug abuse treatment and prevention.
SQ820 is not a vote on whether Oklahoma should have cannabis or not. Cannabis is in our state, and it is here to stay. SQ820 is a vote on whether we want a legal cannabis market that is highly regulated and strictly controlled or an illegal market that is unregulated and lawless.
Twenty-one other states have already adopted laws similar to SQ820. Their citizens are enjoying the windfall of new revenue. Oklahoma should be next.
That being said, here’s a retort to the report from Kevin.
“We made smart decisions instead of going on a spending spree.”
Oh yeah? Is that why your state’s new attorney general has at least two openly-announced investigations into how your administration handled its contracts? Guess it’s not considering a spending spree if the places you’re spending money are your friends’ pockets.
“While other states are shutting down their economies, we’ve never
been more open for business.”
Oops. Sounds like this one didn’t get deleted from the 2021 and 2022 versions of this speech from which this predictable pattern was cut.
“Across the country, huge numbers of Americans are moving to states that value freedom and trust their citizens to make choices for themselves. There has never been a bigger difference between a red state and a blue state.”
True. But not in the way Kevin suggests. People definitely are moving to
states that value freedom. Freedom being defined as being allowed to teach their areas of expertise for a living wage without state censors and that whole bodily autonomy thing that seems to stop at the steps of the Capitol.
“Freedom-loving Americans cannot escape liberal lockdown states fast enough.”
riously, Kevin. It’s 2023. Keep up.
“One path leads toward a top ten state.”
But you just said on the campaign trail that was just an “aspirational goal” Oklahoma will never reach. (throws hands up in air and walks away from keyboard mere minutes into the speech)
Earlier this month, the sheriff’s office opened with this: “Nothing to see here in Oklahoma, just another group of illegal aliens. Ten illegals in this group believed to be trafficked and working off their debts to the cartel on marijuana farms here in Oklahoma. Oklahoma already has a larger black market than California. If Oklahoma passes recreation marijuana, hold on to your hats…”
What they’re saying is that these people (and yes, they are still human beings regardless of their country of
origin) were forced to come to the state in a form of indentured servitude. They are victims, not criminals, but go off… Cannabis is so popular that even though it’s legalized for adult use in 21 states and all but 13 have a medical program, a black market still exists. Meanwhile, for cardholders, weed here is all but free if you’ve been to a dispensary lately. If there are giant farms trafficking not only cannabis but human beings on your watch then you’re really not much of a watchman. I guess that’s what happens when you
spend your time and money on bigoted social media posts instead of the job.
“Murder, human and child trafficking, sex trafficking, home invasion, rape, burglary, robbery and on and on… We are seeing Mexican cartel, Chinese criminal syndicates and other foreign criminal interest move into Oklahoma like never before…Every State is now a Border State, and it’s about to get much, much worse.”
If you’re going to complain about people being here who “don’t speak our language,” then at least use yours competently. There are numerous errors here in fewer than 150 words worth of scare tactics. Maybe the education system wouldn’t have failed those at the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office so badly had there been more funding from, say, legalized cannabis…
Whether you like your hot cakes with or without syrup, early in the morning or late at night, there’s surely a flapjack for you. Celebrate National Pancake Day on Feb. 25 by indulging in a breakfast delicacy on this sweet day.
By Tatum Stewart
(405) 602-2883 •3325 N. Classen Blvd. cafekacao.com
Perhaps Oklahoma’s best Latin breakfast joint, Cafe Kacao’s menu is full of savory flavors and spices. If you have a sweet tooth, this brunch hotspot has you covered with pancakes as big as the plate they come on smothered in a creamy leche sauce. The wild berry pancake is a perfect merger between sweet and healthy, with strawberries, blackberries, and a bourbon blackberry sauce drizzled on top.
(405) 848-5050 • 3315 NW Expressway
Beverly’s Pancake House has gone through many facelifts throughout the decades. What we know now is an all-night safe haven with an interior that teleports you back in time with an old school diner feel that comforts you while you eat. On their menu, you’ll find a wide variety of breakfast food including some experimental items. For example, the “pigs in a blanket” pancakes consist of three sausage links wrapped in flapjacks.
(405) 609-8854 • 1704 NW 16th St. shinewithaurora.com
The historic Plaza District is home to Aurora, a made-fromscratch brunch spot. Using local ingredients, they’ve created a menu that features more healthy options. Aurora’s vegan banana nut pancakes are a delicious example. Substituting eggs for bananas, the three stack does not sacrifice in its fluffiness, with the bananas forming a perfect melody when mixed in with maple syrup.
Low overhead = Low prices
Photos provided
Another time-honored OKC breakfast spot. When you enter this Okie classic and sit down at one of the multi-colored tile tables, you’ll be met with a small town feel. Jeff’s menu is filled with breakfast classics and combination meals that’ll keep you full well into the lunch hour. Instead of off-the-wall variations, Jeff’s opts for a more classic approach with a simple but delicious stack of plain, chocolate, or blueberry hotcakes.
Pancakes aren’t always made as sweet treats. Case in point is the Korean pancake, which combines egg batter, wheat flour, rice flour and scallions with spices. Featuring two savory cake options — spicy kimchi veggie or seafood — these pancakes come out crisped to perfection and paired with a soy sauce base.
Minimalistic style is on the rise, and if you’re a part of the brunch group that’s looking for this type of vibe, syrup. is the place for you. The menu, on the other hand, is packed full of brunch favorites with some unique options if you want to take the road less traveled. Try their cinnamon roll pancake, which is a fluffy stack of four infused with cinnamon streusel and drizzled with icing.
Multiple locations • thatsmyjamok.com
Neighborhood JA.M. prides themselves on featuring fresh Oklahomagrown ingredients at their breakfast spots, offering a multitude of hotcake options to calm cravings. If an extravagant stack is what you’re looking for, try the pineapple bourbon cakes, which are topped with caramelized pineapple slices, smothered in an aromatic bourbon-pineapple sauce and completed with a lemon cream swirl. If you’re feeling indecisive, try The Third Wheel, a you-call-it trio of their various styles.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A deadly, global pandemic sweeps in and threatens to punish anyone that gathers together with friends or crowds. All the thoughtful, responsible people worry about losing everything, so they stay home to try to protect their scene and their community. All the, let’s say, “not” thoughtful or responsible people don’t care, and they keep gathering and crowding anyway.
They take over, they begin redirecting the entire course of the scene, and the thoughtful, responsible people still lose everything because they stepped away to protect it.
Funny, right? You can almost hear the rimshot.
Now, as the comedy community nationwide continues this schism, and as performers from upstarts to blockbusters dig their heels into comedy as a platform for transphobia, misogyny, and general badfaith pot-stirring, a number of local names in OKC are launching new showcases focused on inclusion, diversity and laughs over applause.
BradChad Porter has been a lightning rod within Oklahoma’s comedy scene for around two decades now, often helping to drive the community forward while collecting friends (and at least a few enemies) from the various ranks and styles of local comedy.
And it should come as no surprise that someone who has made a name for himself using his words has a way with them.
“Some of these people just don’t have the experience to manage some of the issues that come up when you’re on stage talking about your butthole,” Porter said.
Pure poetry.
“I think that two things have created this moment,” he said. “The pandemic opened the door to some less-ethical booking but also just the sort of convulsions of the culture over
the past five or six or seven years now. I feel like we’re losing the philosophical argument a little bit.”
If that all sounds pretty heady for a conversation about professional joke-telling — and for someone that just dropped an unprompted anus reference — it’s because Porter takes the state of the scene and the safety of his friends within it very seriously, even if he’s clearly uncomfortable being serious.
Or is it a way to make people laugh and enjoy themselves?
That second option has seemed to be in the minority these past few years, replaced by a righteously indignant parade of speech-for-speech’ssake performers led by a certain multi-millionaire and his persistent anti-trans tirades.
“We call them ‘COVID Comics.’ In Tulsa, they call it the ‘Class of 2020,’” said Amanda Kerri, a veteran
20-year veteran of the scene, feeling disgusted and worried.
“A huge portion of the local scene isn’t just toxic. It’s actively harmful,” Kerri said. “There have always been cliques and kind of separate scenes in a way, but this is much more stark. Before it was more about styles and such, but now it’s about how it’s legit dangerous. People are getting violent and abusive.”
This all came to an unfortunate head when Kerri decided to come forward about being allegedly sexually assaulted by another comic, a decision that led to rifts and divisions across the scene.
“Much of the scene blacklisted me,” Kerri said. “They called it drama and wanted to act like it didn’t happen.”
On the heels of these widening chasms and increasingly harmful behaviors in OKC’s comedy community, another wrench was thrown into the machinery.
“I don’t want to just be a blanket naysayer, though, because some of those people are just inexperienced and are learning the same lessons that we all learned along the way,” he said. “But it’s also very gross out there. I’m disgusted by some of what I’m seeing in local comedy and national comedy. I’m disgusted by what we’ve maybe become.”
What comedy has “maybe become” is controversial in its own right. Is it the last bastion of truly free, absolutely unfettered speech, now beset on all sides by political correctness?
OKC comedian and herself a trans woman. “These guys that a normally healthy scene would marginalize took control of ours and they’ve had a stranglehold on it since. More experienced comedians weren’t there to educate, give advice, and provide a check, and they ran wild. I went from being a pretty generic liberal comic to the most left-wing person in the scene, which is crazy.”
But politics, problematic language, and inane, worn-out takes against good taste aren’t the most concerning issues. Those elements have been in play in any comedy scene as long as anyone can remember. That’s not what has someone like Porter, a
The Loony Bin, that stalwart, omni-present, sometimes stubbornly traditionalist club that had come to practically define the full scope of OKC comedy, closed its doors in October 2022. After twenty years, owners Larry Marks and Terri Libbey finally stepped away from the scene that, for better or worse, they helped to create.
“I grew up in The Loony Bin, and it did help me grow as a comic and relate to people,” James Nghiem, longtime OKC comedian and creator of indie label Robot Saves City, said. “But honestly, I don’t really think that I was ever the right kind of comic for The Loony Bin. Like my voice and my interests aren’t really suited for whatever kind of crowd they drew.”
Even if The Loony Bin and its audiences were never on the cutting edge of progressive or “outsider” comedy, the venue’s policies of safety and respect, as well as the stern, parental presence of Marks and Libbey, did
of trying to increase and highlight diversity when all of the news out of Oklahoma is so horrifying, not just about its comedy scene, but the state’s general disdain for the gay, trans, female, and minority populations?
“We need to be realistic about artists’ opinions of Oklahoma,” said Chad Whitehead, operator and head talent buyer at OKC’s Tower Theatre, one of the largest venues showcasing major national comedy talents like Craig Ferguson, Gary Gulman, and Marc Maron. “We suffer from the bad headlines of our poor politics, which is a turn-off for many artists and makes booking more difficult.”
Likewise, Porter reached out to the major touring networks that he’s worked with in the past to find some more uniquely funny, diverse voices for Model 9’s new showcase at Rodeo Cinema.
Even with a clear aim at bringing in more black, female, and trans comedians to OKC, he’s said that it’s been a battle to convince many of them to brave this market.
“It’s going to be an uphill climb,” he told me. “And even if it goes sideways, I’m leaning into this philosophy that this is who I want.”
As far as James Nghiem is concerned, all the anger and controversycourting and lines in the sand have just gotten stale and boring.
He’s not interested in all of that anymore.
“Coming out of the pandemic, with everybody hating each other, and me hating everybody for a good long time, you know, I would like to just not do that anymore,” he said. “I feel like people can come to a show and we can share the same space now and sit in the same room together.”
Since launching the Robot Saves City pop-up shows early this year in places like Vanessa House Brewing and 51st Street Speakeasy, Nghiem’s focus has been on spotlighting the kind of left-field, weirdo comedy that he’s always enjoyed and explored.
“I’ve realized that the comics that I’ve hung out with over the last 15 or 16 years,” he said, “we all kind of have a certain voice that really jibes together.”
That voice that Nghiem and the comics he respects have cultivated and developed tends to be, as he puts it himself, “nerdy and lame,” rather than trying to be “cool.”
“I just think the media has made comedy too cool,” he said. “Like how being a chef is too cool now, comedy is just too cool. It’s like, no, that’s just some guy that likes to cook and people like his food, and this guy just likes to make people laugh. That’s why they do what they do.”
His goal is for audiences to genuinely laugh at a Robot Saves City show, not to just applaud someone’s ideological ramblings.
“Comedy isn’t something you enjoy passively, especially live comedy,” Nghiem said. “But it can’t be just, like, shitting on people constantly. I want to treat the audience with respect and treat the regulars with respect and treat the conversation with respect. Like, somebody has to give a shit about everybody. If that has to be me right now, then it’s me right now.”
“James does not mind at all being the weird guy doing the weird show,” BradChad Porter said through a laugh about his close friend. “I’ll do that stuff, too, but I’ll also do Greg Fitzsimmons and I’ll also do more accessible stuff.”
Porter has long been someone that the scene has looked up to and looked to for direction, whether he liked it or not, and when things started looking particularly dark for the community that he’s loved, he had a moment of serious fight-or-flight.
“My heart was broken,” he said. “When I learned that there were women who tried to start comedy in this city who couldn’t last six weeks because of the toxic bullshit that was happening, like, my first thought was that I was just done. You can’t invest a decade of your life into something and just watch it turn to absolute garbage.”
But that attempt to walk away from comedy completely didn’t last very long.
“There’s this thing, whatever it is. Whatever unhealthy, horrifying demon from hell that pulls you into these bad decisions, and it was like, ‘You just start again. You do what you do every time. You do what you always do. You just start all over again.’ So I opened up my laptop and found the branding elements to a project that Josh Lathe and I started a couple years back called Model 9 Entertainment.”
With Model 9, Porter has taken the reins on his own corner of the scene and is working with a stable of friends
and respected comics (including Amanda Kerri) to correct the course of comedy in Oklahoma City.
Already, they’ve brought national names like Fitzsimmons and Sam Tallent to Rodeo Cinema, as well as working with local names like Damon Detroit, Kalen Reece, and Kerri, who is working closely with Porter on booking and who finally returned to the mic after nearly half a year away.
For Porter, as with all of these comics, the way forward right now looks to be carving out their own spaces and re-creating the kind of scene that they want to populate.
A scene where comics talk, where comics challenge one another to be better, and where comics, or even just people, don’t live and die by the fight.
“I’m tired of the fight,” Porter said. “And I don’t like the fight. I don’t like where we’re having the fight, or the venue that we’re having this fight in. This fight is supposed to happen at the table upstairs at the Comedy Cellar, or in the side room at Othello’s while somebody else is on stage. We’re supposed to be fighting these things out back there. But what we’ve done is, during the pandemic, we created this vacuum that got filled with the wrong people. We’re not having that conversation anymore. We’re posting about it on the internet and not talking to each other at all.”
Porter still believes that comedy can be a positive way to get outside of yourself and your own head and to connect with other strange misfits that maybe share your own weird perspective on the world.
He wants to see the scene return to that kind of community.
“I think that we all used to use comedy as therapy because we were broken and sad,” he said. “And it helps you to identify with other people who are also broken and sad, because, honestly, most people are broken.”
The hope of people like Porter, like Nghiem, like Kerri, and a surprising number of others, is that comedy can still be a place to lose yourself and just laugh, to not just rant and complain about people you don’t like or about what you can’t say anymore. It can still be a place to discuss and address the real, gaping holes in our world.
Even if that’s just Porter talking about his butthole.
FIRST FRIDAY GALLERY WALK
Friday, March 3, 2023 • 6-9pm
In the Paseo Arts & Creativity Center at 3024 Paseo
GALLERY I - The Studio Gallery OKC Artists
GALLERY II - The March Show - Empowering the Feminine Spirit
GALLERY III - Michi Susan Art Sale
Opening reception is Friday, March 3, 6-9pm
Local and national art, great food, art classes & plenty of shopping!
are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.
An Afternoon with Oklahoma Authors book signing authors D.D. Shaputis of Burned and Mark McCraw of I Was Just About... will be autographing their books, noon-2 p.m., Feb. 25. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-340-9202, bestofbooksok.com.
SAT, FEB 25
Chelsea T. Hicks book signing fiction writer will be autographing her book A Clam and Normal Heart, 2 p.m., Mar. 5. Literati Press Comics & Novels, 3010 Paseo St., 405-882-7032, literatipressok.com. SUN, MAR 5
J.D. Colbert book signing Chickasaw author will be autographing his book Between Two Fires, The Creek Murders And The Birth Of The Oil Capital Of The World 6 p.m., Feb. 24, Deer Clan Books, 3905 N. College Ave, 405-495-9005, facebook.com/DeerClanBooks. FRI,
FEB 24
Kristin Chenoweth book signing Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and New York Times bestselling author will be autographing her new book I’m No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts: Mini-Meditations for Saints, Sinners, and the Rest of Us
6-8 p.m., Mar. 6. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com.
MON, MAR 6
Lit Plunge Reading: An Evening of Poetry and Plays featuring poets Jake Skeets and Tobias Wray along with playwright Zachary Scalzo, 7 p.m., Mar. 2. Literati Press Comics & Novels, 3010 Paseo St., 405-882-7032, literatipressok.com.
THU, MAR 2
FILM
Aftersun (2022, UK, USA, Charlotte Wells) As Sophie recalls a trip she took to the Turkish seaside resort with her father 20 years prior, memories both real and imagined begin to fill in the gaps as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she did not, 5:30 p.m., Mar. 3. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. FRI, MAR 3
Do The Right Thing (1998, USA, Spike Lee) on the hottest day of the year on a street in the BedfordStuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone’s hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into
violence, 2 p.m., Feb. 26. Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456. SUN, FEB 26
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022, USA, Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert) a middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led, 2 p.m., Mar. 4. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT, MAR 4
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022, USA, Anthony Fabian) a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress and decides that she must have one of her own, so after raising the funds she sets out on an adventure to Pairs to fulfill her dream, 3 p.m., Feb. 26. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SUN, FEB 26
Promising Young Woman (2020, UK, USA, Emerald Fennell) a young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path, 8 p.m., Feb. 23. Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456. THU, FEB 23
Simply Indie Film Fest enjoy a three-day film festival of independent films with a mix of shorts and features from thrillers to dramas, animation and more, March 2-4. ShowBiz Cinemas, 3001 Market St, 405-562-6516, simplyindie.org/festival. THU-SAT, MAR 2-4
To Leslie (2022, USA, Michael Morris) based on true events, after having squandered every single dime of her lottery winnings on liquor and drugs, defeated West Texas single mother Leslie Rowlands finds her way back home six years after the life-altering event, 3:30 p.m., Mar. 5. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SUN, MAR 5
You People (2018, USA, Laron Chapman) a black man adopted by a liberal white family struggles with his identity in this satirical comedy, 7 p.m., Feb. 25. Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456. SAT, FEB 25
Coffee and Cars OKC the largest monthly gathering of car enthusiasts across the state, featuring automotives of all types spanning from classics to hotrods, exotics to luxuries, sports to supers, there is something for every car lover, first Saturday of every month, 8 p.m. Chisholm Creek, 13230 Pawnee Dr., 405-728-2780, coffeeandcars.com. SAT, MAR 4
Fourth Friday on Film Row an evening of live
Journey of Light an exhibit featuring photography by Yousef Khanfar showcasing various pieces from his different collections such as Landscape, Portraits, Jerusalem, and more, Mar. 3-Apr. 29. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com.
FRI-SAT, MAR 3-APR 29 Photo provided
music, food, games, and local vendors to shop from, 6-10 p.m. The Paramount Building, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., westvillageokc.com. FRI, FEB 24
Girls Day Out enjoy a day of shopping and socializing with vendors selling everything from handmade jewelry to home decor, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Feb. 25. Oklahoma State Fairgrounds: Centennial Building, 609 Kiamichi Pl, 405-948-6700. SAT, FEB 25
Kicklahoma guest will be able to shop the latest shoes, check out new designs from a variety of local streetwear designers, and participate in a swap meet with other attendees, 1-6 p.m., Feb. 26. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 South Klein Avenue, 405.232.6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SUN, FEB 26
Live & Loud a networking event for aspiring songwriters, composers, lyricists, musicians, and bands to exchange ideas with industry professionals, 7-10 p.m., Thursdays. Joe & Charlies’ Sober Nightclub, 1146 N. Macarthur Blvd, 405-999-0450. THU, ONGOING
Our Conservatory in Depth a monthly program that takes an in-depth view of different areas in the conservatory with each event focusing on a specific element of the garden, February’s feature is spices, fragrances and commodities, 11 a.m-noon, Feb. 25. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SAT, FEB 25
Spelling Bee(r) an annual fundraiser for the OKC Midtown Rotary that combines a traditional spelling bee and a beer tasting event,7p.m., Feb. 24. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., 405-708-6937, towertheatreokc. com. FRI, FEB 24
Super Smash Bros. N64 Tournament fight to the finish against friends and rivals in one of Nintendo’s most popular party games with prizes from Roughtail Brewing Co., 7:30-10:30 p.m., Feb. 22. Up-Down OKC, 1629 NW 16th St., 405-673-7792, .UpDownArcadeBar. com/Oklahoma-City. WED, FEB 22
Common Grounds Coffee Festival an annual event featuring over 60 coffee culture vendors along with student businesses, artists, musicians and much more, all benefiting Rose Rock Habitat for Humanity, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Mar. 3. Cleveland County Fairgrounds, 615 East Robinson St, 405-366-2813, roserockhabitat.org/coffee. FRI, MAR 3
Homebrew Class learn how to create a brew at home using an extract kit and an all-grain batch on the Skydance Pilot System, 10 a.m., Mar. 4. Skydance Brewing Co., 1 N.E. 7th St., Ste. A, 405-768-2154, skydancebrewing.com. SAT, MAR 4
Mustang Chocolate Festival sample a variety of chocolate treats from marshmallows to chocolatecovered bacon and much more created by 21 different vendors, 6-8 p.m., Mar. 3. Mustang Town Center, 1201 N. Mustang Road, 405-376-3411, cityofmustang.org. FRI, MAR 3
Dragons And Mythical Beasts watch as puppets come to life in a magical world of myths and legends featuring a stone troll, a unicorn, a griffin, and many more mythical creatures including a dragon, 3 p.m., Feb. 26. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. SUN, FEB 26 Photo provided
Taste of OKC sample foods from local restaurants and enjoy live music, drinks and auctions at this annual fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m., Feb. 24. Oklahoma City Convention Center, 100 Mick Cornett Dr., 405-768-4037, bbbsok.ejoinme. org/MyEvents/TasteofOKC2023. FRI, FEB 24
Wine Down Wednesday explore the sommeliercurated menu of Old and New World wines while listening to live music, 6-10 p.m., Wednesdays. Tellers,
120 N. Robinson Ave, 405-900-6789, tellersokc.com/ the-great-hall. WED, ONGOING
Crafts and Tales a story followed by an activity ranging from learning about a real specimen from the collections to crafting a thematic piece of artwork, 11 a.m.-noon, Wednesdays. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum. ou.edu. WED, ONGOING
Homeschool Day children of all ages will have the opportunity to dissect an owl pellet and learn about the diet of owls along with taking home any bones they find, 11 a.m.-noon & 3-4 p.m., Feb. 22. Skeletons: Museum of Osteology, 10301 S. Sunnylane Road, 405-814-0006, skeletonmuseum.com.
WED, FEB 22
Kids Take Over the Cowboy: Cereal, Cartoons and Crafts! Oh My! kids can come in their best pajamas, sample Western-themed cereals and make their own toys, 10 a.m. -noon. Mar. 4. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-4782250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT, MAR 4
Kids’ Trout Fish Out a free opportunity to bring a fishing pole and bait and win raffles and prizes awarded for the smallest and largest fish, 8-11 a.m., Mar. 4. Welch Park, 615 Annawood Dr., 405-354-1895, yukonok.gov. SAT, MAR 4
Little Scientists: Rainforest Adventure children will learn all about the plants and animals of the rainforest through stories, games, songs, crafts and museum exploration, 9:30-11 a.m., Mar. 7. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-7977, samnoblemuseum. ou.edu. TUE, MAR 7
Storytime with the Author young reader author Natalee Creech will be autographing and reading her latest children’s picture book, Something, 11 a.m., Feb. 25. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-3409202, bestofbooksok.com. SAT, FEB 25
Weekday Story & Craft Time for Littles listen to a story or two followed by a hands-on arts and crafts activity, 10 a.m., every 2nd & 4th Thursdays. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-8422900, fullcirclebooks.com. THU, ONGOING
Anthony Jeselnik a live stand-up comedy performance, 7:30 p.m. & 10:15 p.m., Feb. 23-24; 7 p.m. & 9:45 p.m., Feb. 25. Bricktown Comedy Club, 409 E. California Ave., 405-594-0505, bricktowncomedy.com. THU-SAT, FEB 23-25
Art Moves a free arts event that features a wide range of artistic mediums from live art demonstrations to musical and theatre performances to short films and more, weekdays in various downtown OKC locations, noon-1 p.m., weekdays. Downtown OKC, 211 N. Robinson Ave., 405-235-3500, artscouncilokc.com/art-moves. MONFRI, ONGOING
Bang Bang Queer Punk Variety Show a variety show featuring drag, burlesque, belly dancing and more, 8 p.m., Mar. 2. Blue Note, 2408 N. Robinson Ave., 405-600-1166, thebluenotelounge.com. THU, MAR 2 Big River based on Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, about Huck who escapes from his abusive father and Jim the runaway slave as they travel the Mississippi River to find freedom, 10 a.m., Feb.
23-24, Mar. 2-3, & 9-10 ; 2 & 5 p.m., Feb. 25-26, Mar. 4-5, & 11. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-524-9310, lyrictheatreokc.com. THU-SUN, FEB 23-26, MAR
2-3 & 9-11
Blue Note Babes Brunch join in on Blue Note’s first drag brunch hosted by Nikita, 2 p.m., Mar. 4. Blue Note, 2408 N. Robinson Ave., 405-600-1166, thebluenotelounge.com. SAT, MAR 4
Dave Nihill a live stand-up comedy performance, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 26. Bricktown Comedy Club, 409 E. California Ave., 405-594-0505, bricktowncomedy.com.
SUN, FEB 26
Dust Bowl Dolls Burlesque the local burlesque troupe performs, 8 p.m., Feb. 28. Ponyboy, 423 NW 23rd St., 405-602-5985, ponyboyokc.com. TUE, FEB 28
An Evening with Kelli O’Hara Oklahoma native performs with Oklahoma City Philharmonic featuring a tribute for the 80th anniversary of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, 8 p.m., Feb. 24-25. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. FRI-SAT, FEB 24-25
Jay Leno a live stand-up comedy performance, 8 p.m., Mar. 2. River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway, Tulsa, 918-299-8518, riverspirittulsa.com.
THU, MAR 2
Lviv Nation Philharmonic of Ukraine a performance of Brahms’ Tragic Overture, Op. 81, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 From the New World, featuring solo violinist Vladyslava Luchenko, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 28. Armstrong Auditorium, 14400 S. Bryant Ave., 405-285-1010, armstrongauditorium.org. TUE, FEB 28
OKCPHIL Classics: Sight and Sound a performance of Takemitsu’s Three Film Scores, Tan Dun’s Paper Concerto for Paper Percussion and Orchestra and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition featuring percussionist Evelyn Glennie, 8 p.m., Mar. 4. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. SAT, MAR 4
Pageant The Musical a beauty pageant of six contestants, all men, who are competing in swimsuit, talent, grown and spokesmodel contests to be crowned Miss Glamouresse, each night will end differently as the judges are random members selected from the audience, 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from Feb. 17-Apr. 21. The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St., 405-601-7200, theboomokc.com. FRI-SAT, FEB 22-APR 21
A Raisin in the Sun the story of an African-American family living in south Chicago that receives a life
insurance check and must figure out how to spend the money before it tears their family apart, 7 p.m., Mar. 2-4 & 9-11; 2 p.m., Mar. 5 & 12. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. THU-
SUN, MAR2-5 & 9-12
Step Afrika! Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience, 7:30-9 p.m., Feb. 28. OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave., 405-682-7579, occc. edu/cp. TUE, FEB 28
Superstitions a foreigner finds a penny on the ground but when he tries to offer it to a stranger, it sparks an absurd and frightening conversation about American “bad luck”, 7 p.m., Feb, 23; 8 p.m., Feb. 24 & Mar. 2-3; 2 & 8 p.m., Feb. 25 & Mar. 4; 2 p.m., Feb. 26 & Mar. 5. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 11 NW 11th St., 405-951-0000, okcontemp.org/Superstitions.
THU-SUN, FEB 23-26 & MAR 2-5
Susannah Carlisle Floyd’s opera about a tragic, apocryphal tale of jealousy, lust and murder, the innocent young Susannah finds herself accused of immorality by the town’s elders, 8 p.m. Mar. 2-4; 3 p.m. Mar. 5. Reynolds Performing Arts Center, 560 Parrington Oval, 405-325-4101, ou.edu/finearts/universitytheatre. THUSUN, MAR 2-5
WEIRDlesque a can’t-miss burlesque experience that celebrates all things nerdy, funky, and wonderful, 7 p.m., Mar. 4. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., 405-708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. SAT, MAR 4
WTF?! Improv Burlesque Terra Rouge Burlesque presents a side splittingly seductive one-of-a-kind experience, featuring a panel of judges selected from the audience and all the laughs you can handle, 8 p.m., Feb. 25. Ponyboy, 423 NW 23rd St., 405-602-5985, ponyboyokc.com. SAT, FEB 25
Myriad in Motion: Yoga bring your mat and water for an all-levels yoga class with instructors from YMCA, 6 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 a.m. Saturdays. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. TUE & SAT, ONGOING
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors a professional basketball game, 7 p.m., Mar. 7. Paycom Center, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, paycomcenter.com. TUE, MAR 7
XFN 385 a night of extreme fighting with Brian Foster vs Lorawnt ”Smash” Nelson as the headlining fight, 8 p.m., Feb. 24. River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway, Tulsa, 918-299-8518, riverspirittulsa.com. FRI, FEB 24
Yoga in the Park bring a yoga mat and water bottle for an hour of spirit, mind and body alignment, 6-7 p.m., Fridays. Andrews Park, 201 W Daws St., 405-3665472. FRI, ONGOING
Art Hop featuring local artist Keri Smith with Whoopie Wagon Food Truck on-site for dinner, 6-9 p.m., Feb. 24. Core4 Brewing, 7 N. Lee Ave, 405-62-04513. FRI, FEB 24
The Art of Food an exhibition that features over 100 pieces of work by 37 well-known artists , all highlighting the subject of food, through May 22. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 11 NW 11th St., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. THU-SUN, THROUGH MAY 22
Art-o-Mat an exhibit that features Clark Whittington’s idea of transforming an old coin-op cigarette machine into a photography distribution device, along with close to 300 works from the Art-O-Mat repertoire and the option for visitors to purchase a piece of art for $5 from the machine, through Mar. 10. Oklahoma City University Norick Art Center, 1608 NW 26th St., 405-208-5707, okcu.edu. MON-FRI, THROUGH MAR 10
Friends
Library book sale shop for books, DVDs, music, and more at this annual book sale and fundraiser for the public library system, 9 a.m.5:30 p.m., Feb. 25-26. Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, 3220 Great Plains Walk, 405-9486700, supportmls.org/fol/booksale. SAT-SUN, FEB 25-26 Photo provided
Make Your Own Retro Earrings participants will learn how to create earrings out of polymer clay with a retro, mod theme, 1-4 p.m., Feb. 25. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory. org. SAT, FEB 25
Monthly Art Opening a monthly art show of local artists with February’s featured artists being May Yang, Marissa Childers and Hilary McQueen, through Mar. 5. DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 405-525-3499, dnagalleries.com. THU-SUN, THROUGH MAR 5
Spring 2023 Group Exhibition features the work of five Oklahoma-based artists working in a variety of media: Courtney Glassey, Calli Heflin, Sylvie Mayer, Michael McDaniel, and Erick Perry. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., through April 23. The Art Hall, 519 NW 23rd St., 405-456-9504, arthallokc.com/spring-2023-group-exhibition. TUESUN, THROUGH APRIL 23
The SuperNatural an exhibit features works from several artists focusing on a new world whose shape and matter will be determined by human activity. 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. THROUGH FEB 28
Jose Dávila features sculptures in which the artist has balanced industrial materials in precarious ways off of fabricated construction, through May 2023. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 11 NW 11th St., 405-9510000, oklahomacontemporary.org. THU-SAT, THROUGH MAY
Kiarostami: Beyond the Frame features a multimedia collection of artwork by Iranian filmmaker, photographer and visual artist, Abbas Kiarostami, through April 9, 2023. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SATTUE, THROUGH APR 9
Growing Your Own Food for Spring learn about crops that thrive in the spring, when to start planting both seeds and seedlings, how to work the soil, steps to protect plants during a cold snap, and more, 10-11 a.m., Mar. 4. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SAT, MAR 4 Photo provided
OKLA HOMMA the signature exhibition of the museum, features works of art, interactive media, and film from all 39 tribes in Oklahoma as of today depicting stories with ancestral origins, collective histories, sports and more, ongoing. First Americans Museum, 659 First Americans Blvd., 405-594-2100. ONGOING
Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Walk peruse art from over 80 artists with 25 participating businesses for a night of special themed exhibits, refreshments and a variety of entertainment opportunities, 6-9 p.m. first Friday of every month. Paseo Arts District, 3024 Paseo St., 405-525-2688, thepaseo.org.
FRI, MAR 3
Past, Present, Future featuring the works of Denise Duong, Brett Weston, George Bogart and Mike Larsen, through Feb. 25. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. FRI-SAT, THROUGH FEB 25
Perspective: An Inquiry into the Literal and Conceptual Sense of the Word features the work of An Ha and Clover B.C. in which they attempt to reconcile two drastically contrasting backgrounds to find the nature of human perspective, and how the human race attempt to mend the gap between this difference, March 2-25. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-9995, 1ne3.org.
THU-SAT, MAR 2-25
Playing Cowboy an exhibition featuring Westernthemed toys from the 1880s all the way to present time including toy cap guns, costumes, board games, a coinoperated mechanical horse and more, through May 7. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum. org. FRI-SUN, THROUGH MAY 7
Purpose and Pattern an exhibit that focuses on the combination of tradition, culture, and self-expression through examples of patterns in art, including basketry, pottery, intarsia, and textile designs from five different artists, March 1-June 30. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com. SUN-SAT, MAR
1-JUNE 30
Rainforest Adventure visitors will explore one of the least-known habitats on earth in a fully interactive maze exhibit, full of the sights and sounds of a tropical rainforest, 10 a.m.-5 p.m, Tuesdays-Saturdays and 1-5 p.m., Sundays, through June 4. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-7977, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. TUES-SUN, THROUGH JUNE 4
Taking Flight: Oklahomans Explore the Skies an exhibit featuring the first steps toward air travel for both military and commercial flights and ways that Oklahomans such as Wiley Post contributed to aviation,opening Mar. 1, ongoing. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory. org. WED, ONGOING BEGINNING MAR 1
Thundor: The Art of Chase Dryden an exhibit showcasing photographs of Chase Dryden’s and other painter’s body painting works on Thunder fan Garrett Haviland, better know as Thundor, through April 28. Firehouse Art Center, 444 S. Flood Ave., 405-329-4523, normanfirehouse.com. FRI, THROUGH APR 28
Visual Narratives: First American Photography features works by five First American photographers, Philip Busey Jr, Peggy Fontenot, Lester Harragarra, Kelly Langley and Jim Trosper who represent different tribes, including the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Patawomeck, Kiowa and Otoe-Missouria, through Feb. 2023. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com. MON-SUN, THROUGH FEB 2023
Voices from the Drum features 20 drums thematically arranged to examine how the artists approached the drum, through their culture, artistic vision and in relationship to traditional dance within the Osage community, Feb. 4-March 31. First Americans Museum, 659 First Americans Blvd., 405-594-2100. SAT-FRI, FEB 4- MAR 31
You Have Died of Dysentery an exhibit showcasing Western-themed games, books and videos, such as The Oregon Trail and Red Dead Redemption, through May 7. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT-TUE, THROUGH MAY 7
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For OKG live music see page 20
A popular fixture in the music scene since the late 1980s, Ian Moore is known for his hard driving, bluesy, Jimi Hendrix-style of shredding.
Moore, with Jeff Plankenhorn sharing the stage, will play Auditorium at The Douglass March 10, and at the T-Town Git Down & Midnite Choogle at the Tulsa VFW Post 577 March 11.
Raised by a long-haired Buddhist scholar of a father and a bohemian mother who wore toe rings, the guitar prodigy shrugged off the heckling about his parents as a teen in Austin, Moore remained focused on music. He began playing the violin at age 7 and took up the guitar a few years later, playing the local music joints with his distinctive folksy blues rock guitar stylings. He quickly built a loyal fan base at a pair of local spots and continued to hone his chops around town whenever and wherever he could.
Performing as a touring guitarist for Americana country rocker Joe Ely opened the door for Moore to tour as a solo artist opening for ZZ Top, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones on their respective tours. Next came his chance to sign with Capricorn Records. This relationship produced his self-titled album that debuted in 1993. Moore released another studio album and a live record before landing the role of Randy Horsefeathers in 1996’s Sling Blade.
“I am one of those opportunistic feeders. I did Sling Blade because those guys are all friends of mine,” Moore said. “And I don’t think any of those guys, including Billy Bob [Thorton], thought it was going to be a hit. Then when it was a hit, I got an agent for a while. But doing what I do, just trying to play music is pretty much a full time thing, and it takes up a lot of my energy … Most of the time I’m just curating my career, keeping things going. Writing, rehearsing and touring. But I do get to do some cool
things from time to time, whenever they just happen.”
Jeff Plankenhorn will be opening the show. He has been playing music for many years and has co-written
Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey where artists like Bruce Springsteen, REM, Nirvana and The Replacements had played.
“It was one of the most impor -
Tulsa,” Moore said. “When I first played Cain’s Ballroom, it was right before Larry Shaeffer sold it. He had a production company called Little Wing because he had done some shows with Jimi Hendrix. We became so tight that he gave me a UniVibe pedal that Jimi Hendrix had given him … I was just 23 or 24 years old, and I had already toured with Joe Ely so I had done some pretty cool shit by then, and gotten big in some towns, but playing Cain’s Ballroom as a solo act at that time was a big step up for me. My first show at Cain’s was absolutely a packed house.”
While Moore may be playing one of the newer venues in town, he’s spent the last few decades cutting his teeth at another local venue. If you couldn’t tell, Ian doesn’t forget much.
and recorded many times with the great Ray Wylie Hubbard. The two met by chance walking in Memphis.
“We were both there for the Folk Alliance International Conference. My friend Tom Jurek was with me. Tom knew Ray and helped him write his biography, so he introduced us. He told Ray I was a dobro player and he offered me a gig for that night.”
The pair have been working together since Hubbard convinced him to move from Canada to Texas. Plankenhorn has invented an instrument that is a mix of a lap steel, a dobro and electric guitar. Folks call it a Plank guitar.
Moore spoke of legendary Austin venues forced to shut down in the late 1990s when the tech boom went tech bust. Commercial rent in some cases tripled, so many businesses vacated buildings that were demolished to construct high-rises. He said he’s seen that again all over the country through the years, including
tant venues in America. These venues just get shut down and close for good, then they get unceremoniously torn down when they should be treated more like a church. We should be grateful that this has not happened in Oklahoma City,” he said.
“I’ve played Oklahoma, I bet, a hundred times or more over the years between Oklahoma City and
“The Blue Door is one of the most legendary venues in the entire country. If the day comes that it is in the past, a lot of people will say it’s a very sad day. Everyone that is a songwriter, in a certain scene, with that folkyleaning kind of vibe that is about poetry, words and storytelling, then you play The Blue Door, period. It’s one of the best rooms in the country for me to perform,” Moore said.
“For a while there, Oklahoma kind of became like north Austin for me.”
Visit auditoriumatdouglass.com.
One oft-cited crumb of advice to remedy powerlessness is to focus not on outward change but on inner attitude. When a person cannot affect progress in people or systems, the person can at least decide how such forces affect them. This fortune cookie wisdom may have some merit, but it is easier said than done. It also feels especially trite when the powerlessness comes from within. For Limp Wizurdz, a long-running Oklahoma City quartet of pop punk jokers, it may even be a grim punchline.
Vile, the band’s new 12-track fulllength album, is the Wizurdz at their most sobering. While themes of existentialism, self-loathing, failure and intrapersonal entrapment have long tugged at the corners of the group’s more funloving songs, that baggage is the centerpiece here.
Set to distorted guitars and shoutsung vocals, the new material is surprisingly meditative for a punkleaning record, ruminating at length in deadend places where self-help feels helpless. Where 2019’s Circles took some time to consider the fruitlessness of spinning one’s proverbial wheels in life, Vile shuts the engine off and sits with the muck for the longest album runtime in Wizurdz history. Granted, tracks clocking in over five minutes may not be exceptional to some listeners, but in the context of this band’s back catalog, it is noteworthy. Instead of merely momentarily acknowledging these troubles as before or masking them in symbolism, Vile makes direct eye contact with them for an entire album.
In the record’s peripheral vision, though, there do remain bits of Limp Wizurdz’s signature sense of humor.
A couple of textural segues like the chuckled “shut the fuck up” kicking off the title track and the cough that ends “Just Fine” drop morsels of levity. The brief entirety of “Midnight Strangler” is morbidly comical as a standalone song and even funnier as a tonal non sequitur late in the album. There is also the retro-digital album art, which depicts a blank smile as the LP’s selfdeprecating title zooms ironically from a cyberspace void. It couches a decidedly Millennial/Gen-Z humor that mixes metamodern tenacity with ni-
in unspoken thought, working through a series of pensive guitar riffs before closing out.
Other songwriting highlights include “Tope Suicida,” “Garden of Kyle,” and “Plastic Moan.” “Tope Suicida,” a reference to a wrestling move that translates to “suicide stop,” has a nice line about “being bound to never being tied,” one of multiple paradoxes here. “Garden of Kyle” writes unfinished verses, leaving space for listeners to fill in the blanks. “Plastic Moan” features homie of the band S. Reidy ramping up the song through a couple of stellar compounding verses.
hilist absurdism, and for some kids that made a name on fast-paced, loweffort songs full of inside jokes ten years ago, this outgrowth of maturity is fascinating and profound.
Naturally, Vile is not for everyone, but the music does make great strides to sweeten the lyrical bitterness. The band knows and plays to its strengths, writing in a vocal register that gets the best performances out of its lead and harmonies. A chugging rhythm section ensures the album doesn’t sag even when the Wizurdz play some of the longest, moodiest instrumental stretches of their careers. The lyrically minimal “Better Name,” for example, spends over a third of its time
For all of the album’s questioning and frustrating lack of answers expressed through recurring lines about punching holes through drywall and nothing making sense, there is a part in “Too Good” that is worth further scrutiny. This track, which boasts maybe the best chorus on the LP (“I’ll never be too good for you”), proclaims that, “It’s either cry or laugh.” This lyric senses the overwhelming weight of everything and the powerlessness to address it. It says that one can only flip a coin for a reaction. It is the grim punchline to that fortune cookie wisdom from before. However, there is a third option that the band doesn’t say out loud. It is not in the words but in the actions of the very making of Vile. While the verbal end of “Too Good” trails out with a fixated refrain about the unhealthy cycle of depression and anxiety, the song continues for another minute and a half as the band plays on. Whether intentional or not, it represents the third option, which is to make art out of the pain. Vile is fueled by negativity, sure, but it is a net positive. It is a good album that expresses an arrested state of being to a T, and in doing so, it puts something more tangible into the world with which to grapple. Art has power, and in powerless times, it may be the lifeline out of the dark.
THE PUNKISH IRISH ROCKERS CELEBRATE A QUARTERCENTURY AS A BAND WITH A HEADLINING TOUR AND A NEW ALBUM RECORDED BY STUDIO WIZARD STEVE ALBINI.
By Alan SculleyFlogging Molly are celebrating their first quarter century as a band by heading out on a headlining tour to support their new album, Anthem. Singer/guitarist Dave King and fiddle player (and future wife) Bridget Regan formed the band and, 25 years later, having survived the pandemic, these veteran Irish rockers are ready to roll into the Diamond Ballroom on March 8 with Anti-Flag and Skinny Lister. The road has always been a second home to the seven members of Flogging Molly, who have steadily built a large following and stable career the old-fashioned way – by touring and word of mouth raves about their highly entertaining and
raucous live shows.
“I remember when we first started, I won’t mention the radio station, but they did a battle of the bands and they’d play four songs by four bands. Whoever had the most requests at the end of the week would be immediately put on their playlist,” King said. “And we won hands down and they refused to play the song on the radio. Their excuse was, ‘Well, it’s only your fans that are calling in.’ From then on, we knew we were never going to get any favors.
There was nobody going ‘we’ll put you on the radio for this and that.’ That was never going to happen with Flogging Molly. Everything Flogging Molly had to do, with the help of our fans, we were going to have to do it ourselves.
“I feel very proud, to be honest. I think we all do. I think we’re very
proud that we have done it the old way,” he said. “We’ve done it (going through) the grind.”
The talk of the early days is appropriate, not only because Flogging Molly is reaching a milestone, but because Anthem marks a return to their roots in very tangible ways. It marks a reunion with producer Steve
NOT REALLY, WE JUST SPIFFED 'ER UP A BIT.
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Albini, who recorded the first two Flogging Molly albums, Swagger (2000) and Drunken Lullabies (2002).
The Flogging Molly saga began after King had made a name for himself in a very different kind of music. In the early 1980s, he was the lead singer of Fastway, a bluesy melodic metal band that also included former Motorhead guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke and enjoyed a brief bit of success before King moved on in 1986.
After a stint in the short-lived subsequent band called Katmandu, King was on his own and trying to figure out his next move. Living in Los Angeles at the time, he met Regan at a pub called Molly Malone’s, and spurred on by her fiddle playing, King, a native of Dublin, Ireland, decided to return to his Irish roots by writing songs that mixed punkish rock and traditional Irish folk. King and Regan formed a band that landed a regular gig at Molly Malone’s and over time other musicians saw the band and it evolved into Flogging Molly.
Swagger and Drunken Lullabies captured the band in its early raw glory, as Albini recorded Flogging Molly playing live in the studio, completing each album in just a matter of days.
The group followed those two albums with Within a Mile of Home in 2004, a sprawling 15-track album that saw King (the band’s main songwriter) and the rest of Flogging Molly embrace a wider variety of tempos, instrumental settings and musical styles while retaining their Irish punk musical foundation.
The three albums that have followed since stuck to a similar blueprint of keeping the Irish punk sound front and center as the band occasionally touched on different musical styles while taking advantage of studio technology to add new dimensions to the Flogging Molly sound.
But having been forced off the road and into isolation by the pandemic, King, Regan and the other band members — Dennis Casey (guitar), Matt Hensley (accordion/concertina), Nathen Maxwell (bass), Spencer Swain (mandolin/banjo/guitar) and Mike Alonso (drums) — wanted to go back to how Flogging Molly started, by playing together in the studio live with no attempts to dress up the sound with studio finesse. They wanted no outside input filtering into the project from a producer, record label or any other source. And that meant Albini, who is famous for simply recording bands live with minimal overdubs, was the man for the job.
“We wanted to go back to our first couple of albums we did with Steve,” King said. “The band is always in control when you’re working with Albini. It’s not like you’re bringing in somebody (to produce) and they put in their little two cents, which is great
sometimes. But we felt that we didn’t want that this time. We felt we wanted to put all of our energy into the album and not be, I don’t want to say hindered, but we have seven opinions in this band (already). And for right now, those seven opinions were what we wanted for this album.”
By the time Flogging Molly arrived at Albini’s Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago, the band had written and arranged nearly all of the songs for Anthem – one exception being the album’s closing song, “The Parting Wave,” which was written and arranged during the recording session.
It took only 14 days for Flogging Molly to record the 14 songs on Anthem . The mission was accomplished.
“As a band, we’re really, really happy with it,” King said. “Working with Steve has always been a great experience, and then we got Atom Greenspan to mix it. He did an absolutely phenomenal job, absolutely above and beyond, a brilliant job.”
Chances are, Flogging Molly fans will agree with that assessment of Anthem. There are plenty of songs — “A Song Of Liberty,” “This Road of Mine” and “(Try) Keep The Man Down,” to name three — that continue the band’s tradition of crafting rowdy Irish-accented punk songs with strong melodies and solid playing. Such songs are balanced by ballads like “No Last Goodbyes” and “The Parting Wave” that share the Irish feel, but with a sturdy and folkier feel.
Anthem is also an album that reflects the pandemic times in which it was written and recorded, most obviously with the opening track, “These Times Have Got Me Drinking.” But other songs, including “No Last Goodbyes” and “These Are The Days,” also have references that relate to the pandemic experience. For King, this topic was unavoidable.
“The thing with me is I have to write about what’s going on around me at the time,” he said. “And I can’t get away from that. There’s no way I could have ignored what we’ve all been through these last few years. I couldn’t begin to do that. I have to write of what I’m aware of at the time.”
Flogging Molly won’t be shy about introducing fans to songs from Anthem during concerts on the headlining tour.
“I mean, people have been locked up for so long, they just want to have a good time,” King said. “But at the same time, we’re going to be doing new material from the new album because we feel very strongly about it and I think people will as well. I mean, we did a couple of (the new songs) at our St. Patrick’s Day show here in L.A. at the Hollywood Palladium, and they went down incredibly well.”
Visit diamondballroom.com
These
Ballyhoo!, Beer City Music Hall. POP PUNK
Jazz Jam, 51st Street Speakeasy. JAZZ
Jazz Nights, The Study. JAZZ
Sunset Patio Bar Karaoke Night, Sunset Patio. KARAOKE
Portrayal of Guilt, 89th Street—OKC. METAL
Trett Charles, River Spirit Casino Resort, Tulsa COUNTRY
The Wednesday Band, The Deli. COUNTRY
THURSDAY, FEB. 23
March 10-12, 2023
Sailor & the Dock
617 W Sheridan
Oklahoma City, OK, 73102
www.momentumoklahoma.org
Isaac Hoskins/Hosty, Blue Note. SINGER/ SONGWRITER
Country Music Group Therapy/Biscuits & Groovy, The Deli. COUNTRY
Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge Karaoke Night, Dust Bowl. KARAOKE
Edgar Cruz/Rachel Stacy, UCO Jazz Lab. ACOUSTIC
Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. INSTRUMENTALISTS
PB & Jazz, Ponyboy. JAZZ
Shelly Phelps and The Storm, Bourbon Street Bar. BLUES
Short & Broke/The BlueRays/JL Jones, Mojo’s Blues Club. JAZZ
Thin/The Wind In The Trees/Magazu/Candle Martyr/ Czar, The Sanctuary. METAL
FRIDAY, FEB. 24
BC and The Big Rig/Matt Williams, Blue Note. ROCK
Blue October, The Tulsa Theater. ROCK
Cory Branan, Ponyboy. SINGER/SONGWRITER
Finite Galaxy/Psych the Wordsmith/Btodd/ Tommy Flow, The Deli. HIP-HOP
Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. INSTRUMENTALISTS
KEM/Ledisi/Musiq Soulchild, Paycom Center. R&B
Kennedy Fine, Full Circle Bookstore. SINGER/ SONGWRITER
Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ Maddox Ross, Frenzy Brewing Company. SINGER/SONGWRITER
McKee Brother Jazz Band, Bourbon Street Bar. JAZZ
One-Eyed Jack in Concert, Café Evoke.
AMERICANA
Satisfaction Tribute to the Rolling Stones, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Company. TRIBUTE
Scott Ryan & The Devilish Folk, Stonecloud Brewing Co. ALTERNATIVE
Spook/Esc Ctrl/PariahSystem/Slugg Nutt, The Vanguard, Tulsa. METAL Brujo/The Laters/Bootleg Royale, Opolis. ROCK
Travis Linville, The Blue Door. FOLK
The Wise Guys, UCO Jazz Lab. COVER
Austin John Winkler, VZD’s Restaurant & Bar. ROCK
Brantley Cowan, Bedlam Bar-B-Q. SINGER/ SONGWRITER
Catherine Fuller, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC
David McKinney, Frenzy Brewing Company. SINGER/SONGWRITER
The Dolly Party: Dolly Parton Inspired Dance Party, Tower Theatre. DANCE Emo Karaoke/The Dom Telonges/King Pink, Beer City Music Hall. KARAOKE
Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. INSTRUMENTALISTS
Kyle Reid/The Low Swinging Chariots/ Mallory Eagle, The Deli. JAZZ
Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ
McKee Brother Jazz Band, Bourbon Street Bar. JAZZ
My So Called Band, The Vanguard, Tulsa. COVER Owne Pickard/Ben Brock/Steven Jeffrey/ Hannah Davidson/Sistersmith, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY Speakeasy 90s-00s Nostalgia Dance Party, 51st Street Speakeasy. DANCE Treaty Oak Revival/Gannon Fremin/CCREV, Tumbleweed Dancehall & Concert Venue, Stillwater. COUNTRY
The Wonder Years/Hot Mulligan, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. POP PUNK
SUNDAY, FEB. 26
Andy Shauf, Beer City Music Hall. JAZZ David Ramirez/Dylan Leblanc, The Blue Door. AMERICANA
Jazz Night!, Blue Note. JAZZ
Kurt Travis/Amarionette/Predisposed/ Giveaway/Cicadia, 89th Street—OKC.
ALTERNATIVE
Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ
Mountain Smoke, UCO Jazz Lab. BLUEGRASS
No Whiners Aloud, Mojo’s Blues Club. FOLK
Tin Can Gramophone/Hosty, The Deli. FOLK
MONDAY, FEB. 27
The Aints/Bailey Gilbert & Friends, The Deli. AMERICANA
Mental Mondaze, Hubbly Bubbly Hookah & Café. ELECTRONIC Runnner, 89th Street—OKC. ALTERNATIVE
Sean McConnell, The Blue Door. POP
TUESDAY, FEB. 28
Bruce Benson & Studio B, 51st Street Speakeasy. BLUES
Caleb McGee, The Deli. BLUES International Anime Music Festival, The Criterion. RAVE
Kempmusik, Mojo’s Blues Club. ACOUSTIC
Miss Brown to You, UCO Jazz Lab. JAZZ
WEDNESDAY, MAR. 1
Early James, Ponyboy. FOLK
Edgar Cruz and Friends, Broke Brewing Company. ACOUSTIC
Jazz Jam, 51st Street Speakeasy. JAZZ
Jazz Nights, The Study. JAZZ
Sunset Patio Bar Karaoke Night, Sunset Patio. KARAOKE
Token, 89th Street—OKC. HIP-HOP
Trett Charles, River Spirit Casino Resort, Tulsa COUNTRY
The Wednesday Band, The Deli. COUNTRY
THURSDAY, MAR. 2
Adam Marsland, Frenzy Brewing Company. SINGER/SONGWRITER
Claud, Elemental Coffee Roasters. INDIE Country Music Group Therapy/Biscuits & Groovy, The Deli. COUNTRY
Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge Karaoke Night, Dust Bowl. KARAOKE
Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. INSTRUMENTALISTS
Shelly Phelps and The Storm, Bourbon Street Bar. BLUES
are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.
FEB 22 - $2 SURREAL NUGGZ 100MG
FEB 23 - 2 FOR $20 RIPPY BLUNTS
Origami Button describing themselves as a “math rock for people who don’t like math rock,” this alternative rock band has chocked their music full of complex riffs and driving drums with an upbeat pace and energetic mood. Currently touring with Lobby Boxers. See them live 7 p.m., Feb. 27 at The Vanguard, 222 N. Main St., Tulsa, thevanguardtulsa.com. MON, FEB 27 ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Photo by Kodak Chris/provided
Short & Broke/The BlueRays/JL Jones, Mojo’s Blues Club. JAZZ
FRIDAY, MAR. 3
Brad Absher/CFR, Blue Note. R&B
Caleb McGee/John Elisha, The Deli. BLUES
Dexter and The Moonrocks, Beer City Music Hall.
ALTERNATIVE
Everybody Else’s Girl, Full Circle Bookstore.
JAZZ
Hosty, Frenzy Brewing Company. ELECTRIC Jackson Taylor and The Sinners, Diamond Ballroom. COUNTRY
Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant.
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Josh Abbott Band, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa.
COUNTRY
Kenny Pitts, Whiskey Chicks. ACOUSTIC
Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ
McKee Brother Jazz Band, Bourbon Street Bar.
JAZZ
Rat Fink/Chelsea Days/Donovan Funk, 89th Street—OKC. ALTERNATIVE
Shortt Dogg, UCO Jazz Lab. BLUES
Soft Hands: Yacht Rock Spectacular, Tower Theatre. DANCE
Bedlam Live Local Bands, Bedlam Bar-B-Q.
VARIOUS
Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. COUNTRY
Brian Lee Dunning, Blue Note. TRIBUTE
Caustic/The Tooth/Sledge/Free4All/Otis
VCR, 89th Street—OKC. METAL
The Damn Quails, Beer City Music Hall. RED DIRT
Dead Metal Society, The Vanguard, Tulsa. METAL Diamond on the Rocks, UCO Jazz Lab. TRIBUTE
Jerry Cantrell, The Tulsa Theater, Tulsa. ROCK
Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant.
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ
Lucas Ross/Peter Markes/Carly Loggins/ Alexa Masters/Bryant Smith, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY
McKee Brother Jazz Band, Bourbon Street Bar.
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FEB 25 - BUY 2 GET 1 FOR PENNY 1G HASH ROSE’S
JAZZ
Miss Brown to You, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ
Steel Panther, Diamond Ballroom. METAL Trembler/PaleFade/Money/Mad Honey, The Sanctuary. ALTERNATIVE
Winter Jam 2023, Paycom Center. VARIOUS
SUNDAY, MAR. 5
Danielle Nicole, Beer City Music Hall. BLUES
Jazz Night!, Blue Note. JAZZ
Jessica Tate, Full Circle Bookstore. INSTRUMENTALIST
Legendary Shack Shakers/Hillbilly Casino, 89th Street—OKC. ROCK
Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ
No Whiners Aloud, Mojo’s Blues Club. FOLK Pup/Joyce Manor/Pool Kids, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. PUNK
Tin Can Gramophone/Hosty, The Deli. FOLK
6
The Aints/Bailey Gilbert & Friends, The Deli. AMERICANA
Clem Snide, The Blue Door. FOLK
MAR. 7
Bleeth/Czar/In Periculum/Objector, The Sanctuary. ROCK
El Perro/ Merry Walkers/ Spacecowboy, Blue Note. PSYCHEDELIC ROCK
Bruce Benson & Studio B, 51st Street Speakeasy. BLUES
Caleb McGee, The Deli. BLUES
Kempmusik, Mojo’s Blues Club. ACOUSTIC Radkey, 89th Street—OKC. ROCK
Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Visit okgazette.com to submit your lisitngs or email listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.
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FRI & SAT 10AM - 12AM
Strain name: Cap Junky
Grown by: Dazed
Acquired from: Dazed on Route 66
Date acquired: Feb. 18
Physical traits: frosted green with wiry orange stigmas
Bouquet: sweet and earthy
Review: Signs reporting that a dispensary is under new management/ownership can be a blessing or a curse or sometimes just business as usual. Thankfully, the Route 66 Dispensary, now Dazed on Route 66, changed little except for the addition of Dazed’s own lines of flower and edibles. When suggested that a coin flip was the only way to settle the choice between the house brand’s Cap Junky and Trop Cherry crops, the budtender had a coin in his pocket for just such occasions. Cap Junky — a col laboration between legend
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 23
Homework: What’s something you would love to do but were told never to do by someone you loved Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Philosopher John O’Donohue wrote a prayer not so much to God as to Life. It’s perfect for your needs right now. He said, “May my mind come alive today to the invisible geography that invites me to new frontiers, to break the dead shell of yesterdays, to risk being disturbed and changed.” I think you will generate an interesting onrush of healing, Aries, if you break the dead shell of yesterdays and risk being disturbed and changed. The new frontier is calling to you. To respond with alacrity, you must shed some baggage.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Rightwing religious influencers are rambling amuck in the United States. In recent months, their repressive pressures have forced over 1,600 books to be banned in 138 school districts in 38 states. The forbidden books include some about heroes Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks. With this appalling trend as a motivational force, I encourage you Tauruses to take inventory of any tendencies you might have to censor the information you expose yourself to. According to my reading of the astrological omens, now is an excellent time to pry open your mind to consider ideas and facts you have shut out. Be eager to get educated and inspired by stimuli outside your usual scope.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
I think we can all agree that it’s really fun to fall in love. Those times when we feel a thrilling infatuation welling up within us are among the most pleasurable of all human experiences. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do it over and over again as the years go by? Just keep getting bowled over by fresh immersions in swooning adoration? Maybe we could drum up two or three bouts of mad love explosions every year. But alas, giving in to such a temptation might make it hard to build intimacy and trust with a committed, long-term partner. Here’s a
ary cultivators Capulator and Seed Junky — was the winner. Key strains grown by each (Miracle Alien Cookies and Kush Mints) are the crosses in
Strain name: Papaya
Grown by: Vyce Cannabis Co.
Acquired from: Puff The Dragon
Date acquired:
Physical traits: hints of purple
Bouquet: sweet, fruity and earthy
Review: You might not expect to find a sleek and stylish dispensary within the walls of a renovated Taco Mayo, but a visit to Puff The Dragon will leave you pleas antly surprised. The dispensary opened its doors earlier this year, offering a menu of single source cannabis from Vyce Cannabis Co. among a curated selection of edibles and concen trates. Vyce Cannabis Co. grows their flower hydroponically, using only water to produce plants with high terpene pro files. Their dedication shines through with this strain of Papa ya. This bright and frosty flower
hits the nose with sweet notes before breaking down into a dense fluffy bowl that explodes with even more aroma.This “indica”-leaning strain tastes as
possible alternative: Instead of getting smitten with an endless series of new paramours, we could get swept away by novel teachings, revelatory meditations, lovable animals, sublime art or music, amazing landscapes or sanctuaries, and exhilarating adventures. I hope you will be doing that in the coming weeks, Gemini.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
The scientific method is an excellent approach for understanding reality. It’s not the only one, and should not be used to the exclusion of other ways of knowing. But even if you’re allergic to physics or never step into a chemistry lab, you are wise to use the scientific method in your daily life. The coming weeks will be an especially good time to enjoy its benefits. What would that mean, practically speaking? Set aside your subjective opinions and habitual responses. Instead, simply gather evidence. Treasure actual facts. Try to be as objective as you can in evaluating everything that happens. Be highly attuned to your feelings, but also be aware that they may not provide all facets of the truth.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
Is there anything in your psychological makeup that would help you do some detective work? How are your skills as a researcher? Are you willing to be cagey and strategic as you investigate what’s going on behind the scenes? If so, I invite you to carry out any or all of these four tasks in the coming weeks: 1. Try to become aware of shrouded half-truths. 2. Be alert for shadowy stuff lurking in bright, shiny environments. 3. Uncover secret agendas and unacknowledged evidence. 4. Explore stories and situations that no one else seems curious about.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
The country of Nepal, which has strong Virgo qualities, is divided into seven provinces. One is simply called “Province No.1,” while the others are Sudurpashchim, Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini, Bagmati, and Janakpur. I advise Nepal to give Province No. 1 a decent name very soon. I also recommend that you Virgos extend a similar outreach to some of the unnamed beauty in your sphere. Have fun with it. Give names to your phone, your computer, your bed, your hairdryer, and your lamps, as
well as your favorite trees, houseplants, and clouds. You may find that the gift of naming helps make the world a more welcoming place with which you have a more intimate relationship. And that would be an artful response to current cosmic rhythms.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Are you aimless, impassive, and stuck, floundering as you try to preserve and maintain? Or are you fiercely and joyfully in quest of vigorous and dynamic success? What you do in the coming weeks will determine which of these two forks in your destiny will be your path for the rest of 2023. I’ll be rooting for the second option. Here is a tip to help you be strong and bold. Learn the distinctions between your own soulful definition of success and the superficial, irrelevant, meaningless definitions of success that our culture celebrates. Then swear an oath to love, honor, and serve your soulful definition.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
The next four weeks will be a time of germination, metaphorically analogous to the beginning of a pregnancy. The attitudes and feelings that predominate during this time will put a strong imprint on the seeds that will mature into full ripeness by late 2023. What do you want to give birth to in 40 weeks or so, Scorpio? Choose wisely! And make sure that in this early, impressionable part of the process, you provide your growing creations with positive, nurturing influences.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
I recommend you set up Designated Arguing Summits (DAT). These will be short periods when you and your allies get disputes out in the open. Disagreements must be confined to these intervals. You are not allowed to squabble at any other time. Why do I make this recommendation? I believe that many positive accomplishments are possible for you in the coming weeks, and it would be counterproductive to expend more than the minimal necessary amount on sparring. Your glorious assignment: Be emotionally available and eager to embrace the budding opportunities.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Actor Judi Dench won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the film Shakespeare in Love —even though she was onscreen for just eight minutes. Beatrice Straight got an Oscar for her role in the movie Network , though she appeared for less than six minutes. I expect a similar phenomenon in your world, Capricorn. A seemingly small pivot will lead to a vivid turning point. A modest seed will sprout into a prismatic bloom. A cameo performance will generate long-term ripples. Be alert for the signs.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Most of us are constantly skirmishing with time, doing our best to coax it or compel it to give us more slack. But lately, you Aquarians have slipped into a more intense conflict. And from what I’ve been able to determine, time is kicking your ass. What can you do to relieve the pressure? Maybe you could edit your priority list— eliminate two mildly interesting pursuits to make more room for a fascinating one. You might also consider reading a book to help you with time management and organizational strategies, like these: 1. Getting Things Done by David Allen. 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. 3. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
“What is originality?” asked philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Here’s how he answered: “to see something that has no name as yet, and hence cannot be mentioned though it stares us all in the face.” Got that, Pisces? I hope so, because your fun assignments in the coming days include the following:
1. to make a shimmering dream coalesce into a concrete reality; 2. to cause a figment of the imagination to materialize into a useful accessory; 3. to coax an unborn truth to sprout into a galvanizing insight.
Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes / daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
Jeremy Newton, of Austin, Tex., is an engineering manager for mobile games at SciPlay. He’s been making crosswords for The Times since 2008. He says this one is a special accomplishment, because the idea for it has been kicking around since 2010. He finally managed to find a consistent theme set he was happy with. While creating the puzzle, he mumbled a lot. You’ll soon see why. —W.S.
60 Bucatini, ziti and rigatoni, e.g.
62 High point of a trip to Europe?
63 Total breeze
64 Do some making up
65 Cry after remembering to meet at noon [1984]
68 Somewhat off
69 English football powerhouse, to fans
70 Time out in pre-K?
71 Change for the better
72 Belly, cutesily
73 “You didn’t fool me!”
75 One way to cross a lake
77 One in the oil business?
80 Actress Davis
81 “You there, hoarding the Quattro razor! Scram!” [2002]
85 Losing line in tick-tacktoe
86 Wryly comical
88 Word with pie, pot or port
89 Subject of SETI space scans
91 Partner of Clark in American history
93 Stefani who sang the 1996 hit “Don’t Speak”
94 Six-foot runners?
95 How one cannibal felt after devouring the other [2000]
101 Like “threads,” for clothing
104 Latest releases, of sorts
105 Neighbor of an Emirati
108 Anxiety condition, for short
109 I.T. bigwig
4 Bit of apparel that covers the face
5 Turn into confetti
6 Big change in price or power
7 Classic record label
8 Lug around
9 [Yuck!]
10 Greeting that means, literally, “love”
11 Crime-show spinoff, to fans
12 Skedaddle, with “it”
13 ____ Hall, home of the N.C.A.A.’s Pirates
14 Many a Zoroastrian
15 Line at a karaoke bar
16 “Hogan’s Heroes” colonel
18 Ambassador, in brief
20 Pile of papers
21 Cosmic comeuppance
23 Big drinkers
28 Pay (up)
29 Freak
30 What you get upon reading aloud the answers to the seven italicized clues
31 “Works for me!”
33 Historic builders of rope bridges
34 Recipe qty.
36 Syst. of unspoken words
37 Diamond shapes
40 Make an appearance
41 Many a watch display, for short
42 1983 No. 1 hit for David Bowie
43 Work of appreciation
42
Blofeld, enemy of 007
48 Therein lies the rubbed
49 Why the Devil was forced to pay “The Greatest” [1969]
110 Some optical illusions created with one’s fingers [1999]
116 Rival of a ‘Vette
117 “Socrate” composer
118 Auditing a class, maybe
119 Part of H.K.
120 Miffed, with “off”
121 Compliment to Daisy during a game of fetch
DOWN
1 Summer hrs. in Dallas
2 “Nice joke!”
3 Previously, poetically
45 Dozes after a dose, say 46 Category for which every 30-Down in this puzzle was recognized, aptly 47 Its loss can cause
SUDOKU MEDIUM | N° 1344816585
NEW YORK TIMES
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS
Grid n°1344816585 medium
Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com
Puzzle No. 0129 which appeared in the February 8th issue.
Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute). VOL.
Please
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